Simple Baked French Toast

Submitted by Juenessa

"The beauty of this recipe is that it's baked, not cooked on the stovetop, and you can put everything together the night before. In the morning, put the soaked bread in the oven, and by the time the juice is squeezed and the table is set, you'll have French toast, hot and sweet, baked to a golden crisp."

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 7
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1 loaf soft supermarket Italian bread (13- to 14-inch-long)
• 1⁄4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 1 2⁄3 cups whole milk
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar

• Topping

• pure maple syrup

directions

1. Butter a 13-by-9-inch glass baking dish.
2. Cut twelve 1-inch-thick diagonal slices from bread (reserve ends for another use).
3. Generously butter one side of each slice and arrange slices buttered sides up in one layer in buttered dish, squeezing them slightly to fit if necessary.
4. Whisk together eggs, milk, and salt in a bowl until well combined, then pour evenly over bread.
5. Refrigerate, covered, until bread has absorbed all of custard, at least 1 hour (time may vary depending on bread).
6. Put a rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 425°F
7. Bring soaked bread to room temperature.
8. Sprinkle bread with sugar.
9. Bake until bread is puffed and top is golden, 20 to 25 minutes.
10. Serve immediately, with maple syrup.
11. Cook's Note:.
12. The soaked bread can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours.
13. **Cook time does not include refrigeration or bringing the bread back to room temperature before cooking.

Reviews

[Color Guard Mom]

Very good. I did do a couple things different. I didn't have any Italian bread on hand, so I used day old wonder bread. I soaked in half and half (didn't have enough milk) mixture over night. One thing I will definitely do different - I'll spray the pan with Pam spray after buttering it, and still butter both sides of the bread - as mine stuck to the pan and was a bear to get out. May I didn't have enough butter on it to begin with? Since I used a thinner sliced bread, I only used 1 cup of milk. I also threw it on the griddle after baking it, to give it a more french toast like texture. My guests really liked it - and he's a very picky eater. Thanks for posting!